Games › Strategy › Strategy + Farming Sim
Should I ship a Farming Sim Strategy game?
Strategy + Farming Sim
Of 167 developers who shipped a Farming Sim Strategy game in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 221 more are announced, ×2.2 for every developer who shipped in the last year.
Verdict: poor odds, for a 5 / 10 build.
The middle developer here made $2.4k, ×3.8 the market's $630 for a 5 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $450; 1 in 20 cleared $370k, ×604 the market median. Revenue is up 100% on the market; 221 games are announced against 101 developers who shipped in the last year.
| Bottom 30% | $450 (exactly $450) |
|---|---|
| Median | $2.4k (exactly $2,398) |
| Top 25% | $27k (exactly $26,978) |
| Top 5% | $379k (exactly $379,348) |
| Developers, 2 yr | 167 |
| Released games | 389 |
| Announced | 221 |
| Effort | 5 / 10 |
| AI-buildability | Medium |
| Typical price | $6.99 |
momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 100% on the market, supply 50% more developers than the period before.
Free games: 12%, excluded from money figures.
Can AI deliver it?
AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.
- Strategy
- effort 5 / 10 · medium · effort 5 sits in the medium band
- Farming Sim
- effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band
What it takes
- Effort
- 5 / 10 · real systems or entry 3D
- Systems
- Strategy, Farming Sim; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Simulation, Building, Management
- Price point
- $6.99 typical · top 25% priced $19.99 or above
- Art
- 3 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Relaxing, Colorful, 3D
Why players buy here
The top 25% priced at $19.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.
The top 10 games average 91% positive over 64,429 reviews.
What kills games here
3 in 10 developers made under $450. 7 in 10 of the 81 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 221 games are announced against 101 developers who shipped in the last year, ×2.2 per shipper.
Adjacent niches
Strategy with a different second tag, ranked by verdict then median.
- + FMVStrong odds
- + Job SimulatorFair
- + BaseballFair
- + LGBTQ+Fair
- + WuxiaFair
- + FarmingFair
- + Martial ArtsFair
- + SubmarineFair
- + NavalFair
- + IdlerFair
- + Shop KeeperFair
- + HackingFair
Comparable games
| Capsule | Game | Released | Price | Reviews | Est. copies | Est. revenue | Developer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| | Timberborn | $34.99 | 38,529 95% | 1.2M | $40M (exactly $40,443,891) | Mechanistry | |
| | Farming Simulator 19 | older | $17.99 | 64,621 94% | 1.9M | $35M (exactly $34,875,954) | GIANTS Software |
| | Farming Simulator 17 | older | $14.99 | 23,063 93% | 692k | $10M (exactly $10,371,431) | GIANTS Software |
| | Farming Simulator 15 | older | $12.99 | 13,306 92% | 399k | $5.2M (exactly $5,185,348) | GIANTS Software |
| | Ostriv | · EA older | $24.99 | 6,866 94% | 206k | $5.1M (exactly $5,147,440) | yevhen8 |
| | Flotsam | $24.99 | 4,308 80% | 129k | $3.2M (exactly $3,229,708) | Pajama Llama Games | |
| | Rusty's Retirement | older | $6.99 | 13,902 96% | 417k | $2.9M (exactly $2,915,249) | Mister Morris Games |
| | The Farmer Was Replaced | $9.99 | 9,116 95% | 273k | $2.7M (exactly $2,732,065) | Timon Herzog | |
| | Moonstone Island | older | $19.99 | 4,063 84% | 122k | $2.4M (exactly $2,436,581) | Studio Supersoft |
| | Weed Shop 3 | older | $19.99 | 3,956 93% | 119k | $2.4M (exactly $2,372,413) | Weed Games |
| | Eastern Era | $24.99 | 3,028 65% | 91k | $2.3M (exactly $2,270,092) | FunYoo Games | |
| | MineMogul | · EA | $14.99 | 4,330 96% | 130k | $1.9M (exactly $1,947,201) | NoodleForge (Gvarados & Diomonder) |
| | Havendock | $19.99 | 1,504 81% | 45k | $902k (exactly $901,949) | YYZ Studio | |
| | Gnomes | $9.99 | 1,757 94% | 53k | $527k (exactly $526,573) | DYSTOPIAN | |
| | Dinotica | $17.99 | 746 86% | 22k | $403k (exactly $402,616) | XA Studio | |
| | Industry Giant 4.0 | $24.99 | 506 33% | 15k | $379k (exactly $379,348) | Don VS Dodo | |
| | Farm Manager World | $19.99 | 605 68% | 18k | $363k (exactly $362,818) | Cleversan Games |
Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.
Five niches a week, one death, one deep dive.
Your address goes to Buttondown, which sends the letter, and nowhere else. Every issue has an unsubscribe link. No tracking beyond the open count Buttondown keeps.